Diversity Rules Magazine

4 Diversity Rules Magazine June 2014 Stephen Dolain- ski is the founder of RainbowGray. com, which cel- ebrates and fosters the unique expe- riences, wisdom, creativity and di- versity of the LGBT population 50 and older. He has more than 25 years' experience as a writer, editor and educa- tor. He is the author of Grammar Traps: A Hand- book of the 25 Most Common Grammar Mistakes and How to Avoid Them, which is used in schools and libraries nationwide, and Romantic Days and Nights in Los Angeles, a collection of romantical- ly-themed itineraries in and around Los Angeles, and is the co-author of Words to Learn By: Aca- demic Vocabulary, a three-book series designed for struggling readers. He has contributed to nu- merous travel guidebooks, magazines, specialty publications and websites covering travel, lifestyle, business, education and entertainment. Before turning his attention to RainbowGray, he was the Adult Literacy Adviser for Los Angeles Uni- fied School District. His background also includes an 11-year stint on the editorial staff of the hotel visitor guide Guest Informant and a brief Holly- wood career as a puppeteer and a television pro- duction assistant. Originally from New Jersey, he graduated from the University of Maryland with a BA in speech communication. He lives in Studio City, Calif., with his "little girl," Sasha, a 4-year-old mixed-breed terrier. JRK: Can you give Diversity Rules readers an idea of who Stephen Dolainski is and a bit about your background? SD: I'm a 66-year-old gay man living in Los Angeles, and I'm single. As for my background, I've had a few careers. I came to LA more than 40 years ago to get into show business and worked for many years as a puppeteer doing live performances in nightclubs and on stage as well as in television. en I went into pub- lishing as a writer and editor. After that came adult education where I worked for more than 20 years, much of that time as the adult literacy adviser for LA Unified School District. I think my work with adult learners was the most stimulating and rewarding pro- fessional experience I had in all those years. JRK: You started RainbowGray.com as a resource for LGBT individuals 50 years of age and older. What was the impetus that drove you to start the site? SD: Two years ago, I retired from LA Unified and fi- nally had the time to devote to getting Rainbow Gray off the ground. I'd had this idea for a few years when my mother became ill and needed to move into an assisted living facility. I thought about my own future as an older gay man and wondered what might hap- pen to me if I ever found myself in Mom's situation. I started looking around but didn't find very much out there that was relevant to me or the older LGBT population. My original idea was to create a resource for older LGBT folks who were looking for informa- tion about housing and caring for aging parents. But frankly, I kind of lost interest in that idea. Partly be- cause there's more stuff out there now that does per- tain to older LGBT people, especially those people who, like many elderly people in this country, are in need of social services. I didn't fit into that group ei- ther, and wanted to create something that spoke to aging LGBT boomers particularly, people in their fif- ties and sixties. So what came to me instead was the idea that we were marginalized in our society, and that our contributions, creativity and experiences weren't very much appreciated within the gay world as well as the so-called straight world. So my idea morphed into creating a site that would celebrate and foster the wisdom, creativity, diversity and experiences of older gay people who were 50 or older. JRK: What can folks find when they go to the site? What's it's all about? SD: If you go to RainbowGray.com, and I hope A Vibrant Shade of Gray A Conversation With Stephen Dolainski An Interview By Jim Koury, Editor/Publisher

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